The show during the audience (part 3)

"Since the impostor would be well prepared by the mastermind of such a heinous plan, a normal test would not be sufficient. Father, if that's allowed, I would like to call young lady Ava. She's a renowned potion master and will be able quickly to prepare a mixture that can make a person speak only the truth. Conveniently, she is my guest at the west wing and..."

The first prince hurried with an explanation he no doubt had hurriedly prepared the moment he learned about James's return, but as he was talking, Medea did a single simple thing...

"...!"

He visibly flinched, raising his back a bit while keeping his head low, tensing up as if he heard something despicable.

"...?"

His reaction was tame yet so obvious that it got the attention of a good few aristocrats gathered there.

Those people furrowed their brows in confusion at the reaction of a servant who should keep still and make himself invisible..., but then they all froze in realization as they were reminded of the certain presence that was so easily omitted that she was almost invisible.

Whose servant was that?

Young lady Zorivia Rotteloss of course.

Who was she?

The first prince's fiancee.

And why was she in the royal castle in the first place? To escort the second prince?

Of course not!

She was there at the scheduled visit to see her fiance!

The first prince whose fiance arrived with a scheduled visit has just publically admitted to housing a female guest in the part of the castle that was entrusted to him!

He was basically housing her under his roof!

It wasn't just neglectful – it was straight-up disrespectful!

Zorivia Rotteloss was a member of the high nobility, and receiving such treatment from the royal prince, who was her fiance, was an unacceptable slap in the face of the aristocracy as a whole!

If that was how he treated his future queen, what awaited the nobles of lesser standings?!

The few who noticed began eagerly whispering about their dissatisfaction to those around them, and within seconds, the entirety of the audience hall was bustling.

"...can come here and prepare... prepare it... huh...?"

|Iiidiiiooots~|

As the first prince stuttered because of the sudden change in the atmosphere that turned all of the audience hostile against him, Medea could no longer hide the demonic grin as he hummed inside his mind.

Like a puppeteer tugging on a cobweb of strings to make the dolls sway along to his wishes, a single commoner took hold of the crowd of nobles, herding them along without even uttering a single word.

"..."

Still, Medea brought his expression under control. There was still a long way to go, and being satisfied with scraps was not in his nature.

A delicious situation like that was only possible because the first prince was taken by surprise on multiple fronts – or at least that was the stance that Medea decided to take and plan accordingly.

"Please do call for that acquaints of yours, brother. Your majesty, do you have a test on your own for me?"

Charlotte acted as if she didn't notice a change and voiced his compliance to the first prince and turned back to the king's body double.

"For that... Hmm?"

The king's body doubled, raised his head, and hummed in consideration. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think up something on his own as the door on the side opened, and an out-of-breath messenger hurried over and whispered something to him.

"...I see... Son, make that girl prepare the truth potion, everyone; I will return shortly."

The body double nodded in understanding to the messenger's words and stopped up, looking around and speaking towards everyone gathered before leaving.

"..."

"..."

Charlotte glanced back at Medea in disbelief that his prediction could be that accurate, but the black-haired man didn't budge, which acted as an affirmation that everything's how it's supposed to be.

The first prince hurried to the side and instructed a servant to bring Ava, and a few minutes later, the slightly taken aback but an overall calm hazelnut-haired young woman with a pixie cut showed up in the audience hall with two servants carrying the ingredients and only the necessary equipment.

"..."

Ava didn't say a thing, but she did bow deeply towards the gathered nobility before she set up her workplace and began preparing the concoction.

"...!"

She was reaching to the side to grab one of the ingredients when she glanced to the side, checking out whether the aristocrats were observing her or not, and she froze up once she laid her eyes on the kneeling black-haired man who didn't make any movement even after the king left.

This should be their first actual meeting since Medea left Startington when it was still a small town, and even the black-haired man wasn't certain what Ava could be thinking.

When their ways were abruptly parted, they were in an amicable relationship, but so many factors changed – including Theodore getting brought back to life with a portion of his memories missing – that guessing it was honestly just a game of luck at that point.

"..."

Or not...

Ava gulped down her saliva and returned to her work, appearing to be slightly more nervous than before.

"..."

Medea continued his peripheral observation; whether Ava was friendly at the moment or not didn't factor too much into anything, as because of her involvement with Theodore, she was bound to become an enemy or at least an opponent the second she learned about the black-haired man's involvement in destroying her boy-toys plans.

Not long after, the king returned to the audience hall, and everyone kneeled down – of course, including Ava, who stopped her work after being taped on the shoulder by the first prince...

...in a rather familiar manner that did not escape the attention of the dissatisfied nobles keeping a close eye on the pair...

"You may rise."

As the king took his place on the throne and called out, all the nobles stood up. Ava did so too but a bit later, and returned to creating the truth potion while Medea remained kneeling.